Diverse, pluralistic, multi-religious India gives us all a unique Indian identity that precedes any narrow sectarian distinction. A country where every sixth citizen is a minority, whose conditions were elucidated in the Sachar Committee Report initiated by the UPA-I, the morass has come back to haunt the UPA-II government. Inter-woven, intertwined with real India, a large section of the minority is part of the deprived majority. They barely survive the daily ordeal of making ends meet to lead a dignified existence. Galloping food prices, unbridled inflation, lack of jobs and an uncertain economy have tested the patience of most Indians.
In the last 10 years of the UPA-led government, have the minorities progressed or do they remain at the bottom of the growth pyramid needs to be accessed dispassionately. Is there an enhanced seclusion and segregation or an increased mainstreaming as envisaged by the Sachar report? Separate schemes like the MSDP (Multi-Sectoral Development Programme) in 90 minority dominant districts were launched with much fanfare. In an assessment done by the National Commission for Minorities in mid 2012, its chairman Wajahat Habibullah spoke about serious flaws in the planning and implementation of MSDP. He said that districts of Araria in Bihar and Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh have set up polytechnics in areas with negligible minority presence.
Abu Saleh Sheriff, member secretary of the Sachar report, has been scathing in his criticism of the UPA initiatives in his exhaustive study in 2013. He called the NMDFC (National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation) a “sham” and suggested it be closed and integrated with regular banking mechanisms. In 17 years the NMDFC has only covered 5 per cent beneficiaries. Around 4.5 lakh out of the targeted 90 lakh received assistance.
The icing on the cake of rank isolationist policies came in the pre-2014 elections season. The ministry of minority affairs announced that it would start three schools modelled on the lines of the Kendriya Vidyalayas, in Kishenganj (Bihar), Ajmer (Rajasthan) and Mewat (Haryana) exclusively for students from minority communities. Yes, there should be many more schools for everyone, but when you live cheek by jowl with other communities, sow and sweat in the same fields and have similar ills plaguing the vicinity, such institutions, rather than mainstreaming minorities, promote segregation and increase their isolation.
The Supreme Court will sooner or later decide on the reservation conundrum but that doesn’t stop the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh from promising 15 per cent reservation to entice the 18 per cent Muslim voters. Just last week the Supreme Court upbraided the SP government for gross negligence to control the Muzaffarnagar riots. In terms of pre-election sops and handouts, a competitive populism is at play. Getting uninterrupted electricity to study or work is the primary hurdle in most towns of Uttar Pradesh. In an uncertain economic scenario, the prospect of unemployment haunts every young Muslim, just like it haunts other youngsters. So after 10 years of UPA rule, the community has to decide which party is more capable of broad based public policy initiatives which can propel the economy and reignite growth.
The secularism bogey is being used again to seclude Indian Muslims from mainstream growth initiatives. Tired of the clergy propagating obscurantism and dictating political choices, the minorities know that this country is inherently secular because of its diversity. We must vote for stability, for being a part of the India story. This election is a referendum of the last five years of the UPA-II government. It’s not about Partition or riots under any government. A time tested judiciary will, under the provisions of the Constitution, provide judicial closure.
Incidentally, I would like to know from these so-called secular forces appealing to protect secularism, how many Indian Police Service officers and government servants are behind bars for prolonged riots since 1980. Has anyone been punished for Meerut, Maliana, Kanpur, 1984, 1993, Muzaffarnagar and numerous riots ever since. Numerous officers, a former minister and others are serving life terms for 2002 riots. The legal process will proceed as per the law. The Indian Muslim as a political entity is not a homogenous monolithic voting bloc as mistakenly envisaged by most political commentators. Any appeal to vote on religious lines ostensibly to protect “secularism” will invite reverse polarisation and promote further segregation.
The recent Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh showed that nearly 20 per cent minorities voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party for good governance and inclusive development. Whereas the BJP has Muslim MLAs in Rajasthan, the Congress has none now. In 22 Muslim dominated Assembly segments the BJP won in 21, except Bhopal North. Incidentally in Goa there are six Christians as BJP MLAs in the Manohar Parrikar government. The maximum vote of the minorities for the BJP was about 9 per cent for the Vajpayee-led BJP in 1999. Based on the voting patterns in the recent Assembly elections, if the BJP were to get close to 20 per cent minority votes, it would come very close to the 272 plus mark.
The fact that the BJP has attracted 15 new allies and other social outfits is proof enough that a pan-India alliance of the National Democratic Alliance would be the largest gainer of the angst against the UPA-II because most of the other so-called secular outfits have cohabited with the Congress. The sheer diversity of allies across the country is proof enough of being inclusive and accommodative. This one trick pony of “secularism”, which is used as a weapon to oppose the Modi-led BJP, will not work.
Having reposed faith in the UPA in 2009, this election is about the state of the nation in the last five years. As Charles Kettering said, “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking of yesterday all the time”. Both Vasudeva Kutumbakam in Sanskrit and Al Khaq ayal ullah in Arabic mean the entire nation is like a family. We have to share resources along with shared values. Secularism cannot be used to deny basics. It must be used to foster equal opportunity by creating a level playing field.
